Shuttle box



April 1, 1924. 1,488,898

E. c. AMsDEN SHUTTLE BOX ,Filed Dec. 29. 1931 2 Sheets-$heet 1 April 11924. 1,488,898

E. c. AMSDE N S HUTTLE BOX 7 Filed Dec. 29. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Apr. ll, E s

flhli fflift eerie SHUTTLE BOX.

Application filed December 29, 1921.

To (LZZ whom, c'zf may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE C. Airsnn a citizen of the United States, andaresident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassaclnieetts,. have invented anew and useful Improvement in ShuttleBoxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shuttle-boxes and more particularly to suchboxes made of pressed sheet metal. The cast-iron shuttleboxes now ingeneral. use are subject to certain defects and limitations, amongothers the excessive cost of the same, due chiefly to the labor involvedin dressing and machining the castings; their liability to crack undercertain conditions as for instance when the box is moved vertically tochange the thread at the instant that one of the shuttles is projectingfrom the rear end thereof, whereupon the impact of such shuttle with afixed part of the loom will fracture the relatively thin casting at therear end thereof; and their comparatively short life due to the factthat when the guide members, which are cast integral with the box,become worn. the device must be discarded.

The general object of my invention is to provide a. shuttle-box madeentirely out of pressed sheet metal whereby the foregoing disadvantagesinherent in the cast iron boxes are eliminated.

special object of my invention is to provide such pressed sheet-metalshuttle-box in which the several elements thereof are formed separatelyof pressed sheet metal and then suitably assembled as by riveting orspot-welding whereby the labor cost is reduced to a minimum and thedevice may be produced at substantially one half the total cost of thecast-iron boxes of the prior art.

Another objectis to produce a. shuttlebox which. is much stronger thanthe castiron boxes aforesaid. and to provide the rear end thereof withbracing: members whereby the box is so greatly strengthened that anill-timed vertical movement thereof with a shuttle projecting from therear end will not cause the breakage of the same.

still further object is to provide the Serial No. 525,712.

the life of the device may be greatly pro longed by the simple expedientof replacing such guides as they become worn;

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will hereinaftermore fully appear, and the distinctive features of novelty will bepointed out in the appended claims.

With the foregoing objects in view invention comprises as its salientfeatures a box member pressed out of a suitably shaped strip of sheetmetal, preferably hard malleable steel, to form a base and two parallelsides at right angles thereto, a partition parallel to said sides andlocated midway between the me to form with said sides two shuttlecompartments, the said partition being suitably attached to said base,as for example, by being headed thereinto, front and rear top piecessuitably attached to the respective ends of the boxes, the usual presserarms hingedly connected to the rear top piece and having their free endsresting on the front top piece, springs co-operating with said presserarms, respectively, to maintain the free ends thereof against the fronttop piece, stop member secured to the front top piece for limiting theupward moven'lent of said presse 1 arms and nonintegral guide membersecured to said top pieces for co-operationwith the usual guide waysalong which the shuttle-box has intermittent vertical movement.

A practical embodiment of my invention is shown in the drawings whichaccompany and form a. part of thisspecification, although it will heunderstood that various modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the invention as defined by the appended claims.

in the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a shuttle-box involving myinvention;

Fig. 2 i a side. elevation of said shuttlebox: I

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the under side of said shuttle-box as it wouldappear if it were rotated about its longitudinal axis one hundred andeighty degrees from the position shown in Fig, 1;

4 is a vertical section taken on the provided with sides 22, 23 formedthis purpose.

8 is a fragmentary vertical section rearward end of one of said presser9 is a side elevation of the front top 10 is a side elevation of therear top therewith, said box member beingout of a strip of sheet metalsuch as hard malleable steel. Dividing the box member into twocompartments is a partition secured in any suitable manner to said base,

' and in the present instance the lower edge of said partition isprovided with tenons 25 headed into openings 111 said base. saidpartition bein aarallel to the sides of the box 'member and arrangedmidway between the same.

Secured to the front end of the shuttlebox is a top piece 26 having twopairs of downwardly disposed side members 27, 28 which are arranged overthe outer surfaces r of the sides 22, 28 of the box and are securedthereto in any suitable manner, as for ample, by spot-welding. riveting,etc, said top piece, aswell as the other members of the shuttle-boxbeing shown in the present instance as spot-welded thereto as indicatedat 29. The forward pair of sides 27 are bent laterally thereto and formflanges 30, 30 to which the front guide member 31 is secured by anysuitable means. headed rivets 32 being shown in the present instance forw Extending upwardly from the sides of the front top piece 26 are arms33 to which the combined guide and stop member is attached. the saidcombined guide and stop niember having its outer sides 36 spot-- weldedor otherwise secured to said no standing arms and its intermediate sides37. 37 extending downwardly to the upper face of the front top. piece.

Secured to the rear end of the bOXZHQUT her is a top piece 38 having thehinge knuckles 39 of a hinge formed integral with its forwardedge. Inthe present instance there are three such hinge knuckles each formed bybending a strip integral with and extending forwardly from the topmember 38 back on said top member and spot-weld ing the same thereto. I

The two sides of the top member 38 are bent laterally near the rearwardend thereof to form the flanges l0 for supporting the rear guice member41, said rear guide member being secured to said flanges in any suitablemanner as for example by the headed rivets 4-2. in the present instancethe sides 22, 23 of the i103. member are upwardly inclined at theirrearward ends, conforming to the shape of the rear top piece 38, whichas shown has its depending sides 43 in contact with the sides of the boxmember and spot-avoided thereto.

The presser arms 43; 43, are pressed channel-shaped out of sheet metalant a hinge knuckle A is formed on the rear end of each by bending tiiestrip reversely on itself and spot-welding the same as indi cated at 15to the web of the channel. The pintle having a headed end 4'7 passesthrough the knuckles 39 and 44. thereby hingedly connecting the presserarms to the rear top ooir a cotter pin 48 maintaining said pintle inposition.

The forward end of each presser arm is bent reverscly on itself andspot-welded to the web as indicated at 4.9, and is enlarged as shown at50 to form a bearing surface for a spring-pressed loom member (notshown) which. exerts pressure on said arm to force the latter against ashuttle placed in one of the compartments of the box. Additionalpressure is exerted on. each presse-r arm by a leaf spring 51 havingrearward end attached to the rear top box by a screw 52 and its free endin contact with thepresser arm.

As will be clear from vFigs. l and 4. the intermediate sides of thecombined stop and guide member are arranged between. the PYPSSQTHYZDSnear the forward end thereof.

In order to strengthen the rear end of the box a brace is placed on eachside of and spot-welded to the partition 24.- under the rear top pieceand is secured to the latter by spotwelding and by the screws 52, eachsaid brace havingahorizontal portion in c: itact with the under surfaceofthe. rear top piece. a vertical portion in contact with saidpartition. and an inclined portion integral with and connecting the saidportions 54- and Secured to one side of the lOOX is a channel-shapedstiffening member 56 extending substantially throughout the length ofthe box and having a threaded nut 57 located iii-- termediate the endsthereof and secured to the flanges of said stiffening member byspotwelding or otherwise. the shuttle-box being mounted on a stemthreaded to said nut.

It willv be clear that my improved shuttleboX may be formed with as manyshuttle compartments as desired by the simple expedient of using aplurality of partitions.

For example it four shuttle compartments messes are desired, the boxmember will be divided into four compartments by means of threepartitions.

If desired the upper edge of the partition 24- may have one or moretenons projecting therefrom near the ends thereof for co-operation withopenings in the upper faces f the top pieces. As indicated at 58, 58,two such tenons pass through openings in the front top piece 26 andproject slightly above the upper face of said top piece, and as shown at59, one such tcnon is headed into an opening in the horizontal portionof the rear top piece 88. i

A shuttle box can be constructed in ac cordance with my invention atsubstantially one half the cost of the cast-iron shuttle boxes ingeneral use today; by virtue of the bracing arrangement under the reartop piece, it is practically impossible to fracture the device by theimpact of a projecting shuttle with any portion of the loom; and byvirtue of the non-integral guide members 31, 4.1, which may be taken offby clipping off the heads of the rivets 82, 4:2, respectively, and newguides substituted therefor, the life of my shuttle-box may be prolongedpractically indefinitely.

Having thus described an illustrative embodiment of my invention withouthowever limiting the same thereto, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A. pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box comprising a boxmember having a base and sides formed integral there-with, a partitionparallel to said sides and located midway between the same, meanssecuring said partition to said base, a top piece secured to the forwardend of said box, presser arms each having its forward end resting onsaid top piece and a combined stop member and guide for limiting theupward movement of said presser arms, said stop member being secured tosaid top piece.

2. A pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box com prising a box member having abase and sides formed integral therewith, a partition parallel to saidsides and located midway between the same, means securing said partitionto said base, a top piece secured to the forward end of said box, saidtop piece having an upstanding arm at either side thereof, presser armseach having its forward end resting on said top piece, and a combinedstop member and guide for said presser arms, said combined stop memberand guide having its outer sides secured to said upstanding arms and itsintermediate sides arranged between said presser arms near the forwardend thereof.

3. A. pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box having a base and sides formedintegral therewith, a channel-shaped stiffening member secured to one ofsaid sides and a threaded nut located between the ends of said memberand secured to the flanges thereof.

4. A pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box comprising a box member having abase and sides formed integral therewith, a partition parallel to saidsides and dividing said box member into compartments, means securingsaid partition to said base, front and rear top pieces secured to saidsides at the respective ends thereof, presser arms hingedly connected atone end to the rear top-piece and having their other ends resting on thefront toppiece, a combined stop member and guide plate secured to thefront top-piece for limiting the movement of said arms, springs attachedto the rear top-piece and co-operating with said presser arms,respectively, and non-integral guide members riveted to said top-pieces,respectively.

5. A pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box comprising a box member having abase and sides formed integral. therewith, a partition parallel to saidsides and dividing said box member into compartments, means securingsaid partition to said base, a top piece secured to the rear end of saidbox, a brace on each side of said partition under said top piece andmeans securing each said brace to said top piece.

6. A pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box comprising a box member having abase and sides formed integral therewith, a top piece secured to theforward end of said box, presser arms each having its forward endresting on said top piece and a combined stop member and guide forlimiting the upward movement of said presser arms, said stop memberbeing secured to said top piece.

7. A pressed sheet-metal shuttle-box comprising a box member having abase and sides formed integral therewith, a top piece secured to theforward end of said box, said 7 top piece having an upstanding arm ateither side thereof, presser arms each having its forward end resting onsaid top piece, and a combined stop 'member and guide for said presserarms, said combined stop member and guide having its outer sides securedto said upstanding arms and its intermediate sides arranged between saidpresser arms near the forward end thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 24th dayof December, 1921.

EUGENE G. AMSDEN.

